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Rising prices for macadamia nuts helped Hawaii farmers generate record revenue last year, according to a new federal report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the state’s macadamia industry generated $53.9 million
in sales during the annual season that ended June 30, up 28 percent from $42 million in the prior season.
Prices paid to farmers along with higher production combined to set the industry record, the report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said.
The average price last season was $1.10 per pound. That was up from $1 in the prior season and represented an all-time high.
Farmers produced 49 million pounds of mac nuts for sale last season. That was up 17 percent from 42 million pounds a season earlier but didn’t come close to a record set in 1998 and repeated in 2007 at 58 million pounds.
The report said growing conditions last season were generally favorable but more of the crop spoiled — 10 million pounds last
season compared with
7 million pounds the season before. Among challenges the industry continued
to face last season were a labor shortage, wild pigs and other pests, the report said.
Last season’s results represented a rebound from a disappointing 2016-17 season that followed a record 2015-16 season where revenue of $45.6 million broke what had been a 26-year-old high mark of $44.9 million from 1989-90.
Hawaii’s macadamia industry for the last five years has covered 18,000 acres of which 16,000 was harvested. The USDA report said about 1.3 million trees are on the 18,000 acres. The agency no longer reports how many mac nut farms exist in the state, though there were about 600 mainly small farms in 2014 when that statistic was last reported.
The report is based on surveys of farmers and produced in part with the state Department of Agriculture.
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